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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Smith march in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chapter 6?

2. What did the welfare inspector recommend to the welfare agency after the visit?

3. What is the Irish way of making tea, as described by Smith in Chapter 7?

4. What disease did one of the firefighters contract?

5. How did Smith's attitude toward cockroaches change as an adult?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Smith's attitude toward the man hanging around at the Union Avenue fire in Chapter 10? How did he feel about the man screaming that the firemen were not taking fire victims to the hospital because they didn't care about black people?

2. Despite the death of the baby in the last fire in the book, Smith was more committed than ever to remaining a firefighter. What did he see at that fire that reinforced his tremendous loyalty to his fellow firemen?

3. Why did Smith think it was useless to argue with the sneering youths hanging around a fireman's car in Chapter 10?

4. Is the poverty seen by Dennis Smith in the South Bronx different than the poverty in which he grew up?

5. What were Smith's initial views of firefighting before he joined the department?

6. How did contemplating the changing seasons make it easier for Smith to deal with the dangers of his job?

7. How did the elementary student, Cynthia, approach her interview with Smith in Chapter 9?

8. In what way does it seem as though Smith--despite his hatred for cockroaches--actually respects them?

9. Why did Smith view being a firemen as a sign of success when he was a child?

10. What did Smith find most frustrating about the attack on the firefighters (the dropped garbage can) in Chapter 8?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Smith describes his reasons for living outside of the community in which he served. Do you think it is necessary for civil servants to live in the communities for which they work? Would Smith have been any more effective if he had lived in the South Bronx? Or, did his decision to seek a quieter life for his family make it easier for him to serve a needy community? In what ways could living amongst the people you serve make you a better servant? Do communities have a responsibility to make it easier for civil servants to live locally by, for instance, ensuring affordable housing?

Essay Topic 2

When he was a child, Smith's mother made him hide the family television set when the welfare inspector came to visit because she was afraid they would not receive extra funding for winter coats. He describes the visit as tension-filled as the family tried to make the right impression. Why did he find this sort of visit humiliating? What kind of image of his family did Smith get when they had to accept random visits from city officials to prove that they were sufficiently poor to warrant help?

Essay Topic 3

Firefighters come across as three-dimensional human beings in this book--we see their bravery, their humanity, their occasional pettiness, and their frustrations and prejudices. In what ways has reading this book changed or not changed your view of firefighters? Before reading the book, did you have a particular image of firemen? Was that image reinforced or shattered? Do you have more respect or understanding of them now?

(see the answer keys)

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